What’s in a name? College athletes able to start cashing in

FAYETTEVILLE – Thursday was more than the beginning of July.

It marked the start of a new day for college athletes across the country, including those competing for the University of Arkansas.

Athletes can finally get paid for their name, image and likeness without compromising their eligibility.

“I’m definitely excited,” said Terry Prentice, Arkansas Senior Associate Athletic Director for Athlete Brand Development and Inclusive Excellence. “It’s a great opportunity for our student athletes. I think they deserve it.

“We have to have some guard rails to protect them, of course, and we have to be here to educate and bring them, but overall I think it’s a great thing.”

A track and field athlete for the 2009-12 Razorbacks, Prentice has spent much of his time since joining in March devising a plan for how Arkansas will deal with its athletes’ naming, image, and likeness policies.

Two hour-long Zoom meetings were held with athletes on Thursday for them to ask questions about the guidelines, and additional Zoom meetings will be held today.

The NCAA board of directors voted on Wednesday to officially suspend rules that previously banned athletes from benefiting from the use of their name, image and likeness.

“Most of our student athletes have already heard some of the rules that have been presented to their teams at some point in the past few weeks,” said Prentice. “But this will be more of an official rule education for everyone.

“We’ll have a few more meetings in July with a combination of face-to-face meetings and zoom.”

Arkansas junior wide receiver Trey Knox was the first razorback to announce a promotional deal with PetSmart Thursday that will highlight Knox and his husky dog ​​Blue.

Prentice said he expected several more support agreements with Razorbacks to be announced in the next few days.

“You will see some very recognizable names in commercials, post sponsored posts on social media, or sign autographs,” said Prentice. “There will be [endorsements for] Restaurants, jewelry stores, swimwear, car dealerships, outdoor gear. It will cycle through the scale.

“You will see some names of student athletes at camps and clinics in their hometowns. Some student athletes now have the opportunity to start their own businesses and show off their entrepreneurial spirit.”

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has signed law allowing athletes in the state to be compensated for their name and image, but the law won’t go into effect until January 1.

For now, Arkansas will follow a policy set by the NCAA so that athletes in states without law can still benefit from their name, image, and likeness.

Prentice said the agreement must first be reviewed by his department before Razorbacks can sign contracts. Arkansas NCAA compliance, he said, was also heavily involved in the process.

“Student-athletes must report anything before they do it,” Prentice said. “You have to let us know what are [companies] You ask to do? What are the conditions? What is the compensation? Who are all involved?

“How long will it take? Are they asking you to do one thing? Are they asking you to do two, three, four, five? Will they commit you to do this over two years? Three years?

“Everything that goes through my office and not so that we can negotiate for you, because that’s not my job. It is so that we can have an accurate record and make sure we are also following NCAA rules and our state law when it becomes official. “

There are some products and activities that athletes in Arkansas are not allowed to endorse or encourage, Prentice said, including alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling, and firearms.

“I think for a student-athlete who loves to hunt and fish, that doesn’t mean they can’t do anything for an outdoor business,” said Prentice. “There are all kinds of outdoor locations across the state or outside of the state that they could work with. But supporting a real firearm will be off-limits.”

Prentice said the razorbacks who receive advertising contracts will not be allowed to use Arkansas facilities such as Reynolds Razorback Stadium or Walton Arena for commercials.

Arkansas athletes will not be able to appear in their uniforms, or even wear shirts or other clothing with the Razorback logo, in commercials or during activities such as autograph sessions or in-person appearances. Athletes sold with their numbers cannot be paid.

Wearing the school colors red and white is fine, Prentice said.

“Student-athletes can have pre-game Twitter posts or videos of them exercising in their uniforms, all of which are great adverts and help them build their following and brand,” Prentice said. “But when it comes to using their name, image and likeness to generate income, it only has to be the individual student-athlete promoting a product or a company.”

Prentice said he read articles quoting coaches or administrators anonymously, wondering how the guidelines on name, image, and likeness might affect team chemistry.

“One of our coaches told me that he feels that their culture is already in the locker room. They don’t think this is going to be a big problem,” said Prentice. “The student athletes also talked about how they can all help one another.

“I’ve even heard that student-athletes from different teams want to work together [on endorsement deals]. “

In May, the Arkansas Sports Department announced that it had launched a program called Flagship to help athletes capitalize on their opportunities, manage their name, image and likeness, and earn money through working relationships with the Walton The UA’s College of Business and Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship – which includes the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub and McMillon Innovation Studio – along with marketing firm Captiv8 and NOCAP Sports.

“As we prepare and train our student athletes to compete and be successful in the classroom and in the field of athletics, we are determined to empower them for personal success with the new opportunities that come with name, image and likeness To position, “Arkansas Athletic said director Hunter Yurachek in a press release. “Arkansas Athletics was one of the first programs in the nation to add an executive position to guide that effort and help Razorback student athletes maximize their potential.”

Prentice said he believes razorbacks in all sports will have advertising deals in the coming weeks and months.

“It’s really hard to come up with an exact number because that evolves over time,” he said. “But every day an athlete from a different team comes up to me for an opportunity in their Instagram or Twitter inbox.”

There is no limit, Prentice said, on how much money an athlete can be paid.

“We’re just asking that it have fair market value to the student-athlete, and obviously his name and notoriety and the way he behaves will help determine that,” Prentice said. “But we’re not in the dollar monitoring business.

“Of course we want everything to be honest and with integrity, but I think some of the student athletes will command more.” [compensation] than others. We have to see how it turns out.

“I think the next three to six months will teach us a lot, and in a year we will have a lot of data and understand the market better too.”

Prentice, 32, is especially fond of athletes in sports where they often receive partial scholarships, such as baseball with 11.7 scholarships, athletics for men with 12.6, and athletics for women with 18 scholarships.

When Prentice was on the track and field team, he said he had a “minimal” scholarship.

“To get to Arkansas I had to turn down all opportunities because I wanted to win championships,” said Prentice, who ran for teams that won a total of six SEC indoor and outdoor championships. “My parents had to make sacrifices and help finance my education. I had to maximize everything in my power, such as saving the daily allowance we received for meals along the way.

“So now to some student-athletes who are just getting books [paid for]If they can make $ 500 or $ 1,000 a year, that’s a big deal. It may not be life changing money, but it lowers the bills and reduces what a family has to sacrifice. “

Prentice, who previously worked at the Razorback Foundation and was assistant sports director in Kansas before returning to Arkansas, praised the UA administration, particularly Yurachek and assistant sports director for compliance Jon Fagg, for their leadership in name, image, and likeness.

“I have to praise Hunter for having the vision to be one step ahead of this,” said Prentice. “From Hunter to Jon to our compliance and legal teams, everyone was full speed ahead.”

Prentice said athletes will benefit even if they don’t benefit financially from their name, image, and likeness.

“They will all learn to plan and prepare their taxes,” he said. “How to negotiate a salary for your first job offer after college and how to market yourself.”

Terry apprentice

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/whats-in-a-name-college-athletes-able-to-start-cashing-in/